Oct 2020
22
BrightPay announces API integration with AccountsIQ
Processing the payroll for your client’s employees and calculating payroll taxes accurately and on time are two of the most important tasks for payroll bureaus and accountants. That's why we have created this new webinar:
Payroll in the Connect Era: How integration has transformed the world of payroll
Thursday 5th November 11am
What you'll learn:
- The Importance of Automation
- What is Payroll Journal Integration?
- How BrightPay’s Accounts Software Integration can help
- The Benefits of Integrated Payroll & Accounting Systems
- API Integration in BrightPay
Tracking payroll figures in accounting systems is also equally important. In the past adding payroll journals was a manual process of exporting a CSV file from the payroll software, mapping the nominal codes and uploading them into AccountsIQ.
Without API integration between payroll and accounting systems, payroll journal information would need to be entered manually into the accounting system, which can result in errors and duplication of efforts. You may also need to make journal entries to fix mistakes. In order for this information to be included in financial statements efficiently, the payroll and accounting system should ideally be integrated through an API facility.
Payroll and accounting integration between BrightPay and AccountsIQ is a critical part of the payroll reporting process. BrightPay have now added an API payroll journal feature allowing users to create wage journals from finalised pay periods so that they can be added into AccountsIQ.
How the BrightPay & AccountsIQ integration works
BrightPay produces the payroll journal in a file format that is unique to AccountsIQ allowing users to easily upload their payroll figures into their general ledger in just a few clicks.
Once you have entered your AccountsIQ login credentials, BrightPay will automatically retrieve your nominal ledger accounts so that you can easily map each payroll data item to the relevant nominal account. The nominal ledger mapping is then saved for an even speedier process going forward. The payroll journal can include records for payslips across multiple pay frequencies. Users then have the option to include individual records for each employee or merge the records for each unique date. A nominal account can be used for multiple items.
What are the benefits of BrightPay’s API integration with AccountsIQ
Some accounting programs come with payroll modules that are fully integrated from the outset. However, the payroll module can be expensive, outdated or/and lack basic automation features. BrightPay and AccountsIQ are multi-award winning software systems that increase efficiency, avoid duplication of efforts and reduce the possibility of manual processing errors. The accuracy and automation of this wage journal API will help to ensure that your books and your payroll journal match up. This can be a critical part of both payroll and accounting. Click here for more information about AccountsIQ.
Webinar: Payroll in the Connect Era: How integration has transformed the world of payroll
To find out more about how you could benefit from the BrightPay and AccountsIQ integration register for the webinar now.
Thursday 5th November - 11am
In today’s technology-driven world, how well a business performs – whether it succeeds or fails – is increasingly dependent on how well it connects applications and integrates systems. That’s why BrightPay and AccountsIQ have teamed up, making it easier to keep your payroll and accounting systems aligned. Join BrightPay & AccountsIQ on Thursday 5th November to discover how you can streamline your payroll and accounting processes. Register today.
Related articles:
Step by step guide to BrightPay & AccountsIQ integration
Find out more about the BrightPay & AccountsIQ integration
Press Release: Accounts IQ partners with BrightPay
Sep 2020
4
What’s not to LOVE about BrightPay’s integration with FreeAgent
Together with FreeAgent, we’ve built a meaningful API integration to make payroll refreshingly easy while keeping your accounting simple. BrightPay produces the payroll journal in a file format that is unique to FreeAgent. Users can easily upload their payroll figures into their general ledger from within BrightPay using the FreeAgent API facility.
Connecting accounting and payroll means dead-simple reconciliation and consolidated journal entries, a much needed combination. This means each time you run payroll, a wage journal entry is created to send to your FreeAgent system. The BrightPay API facility eliminates the manual export and import process, automating tedious, repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
How does it work?
When you sign into your FreeAgent account in BrightPay, your nominal ledger accounts will be retrieved where users can simply map each payroll data item to the relevant nominal account. The payroll journal can include records for payslips across multiple pay frequencies. Users can include individual records for each employee or merge the records for each unique date.
Payroll Journal API integration with FreeAgent offers:
- Time Savings: Rather than manually inputting payroll data from one system to another, just import your wage journal straight into FreeAgent with a couple of clicks.
- Automation: Every bureau and accountant wants and needs an automated system these days. The automation of BrightPay’s API facility will easily input payroll journal files straight into FreeAgent streamlining the payroll process even further.
- Reduced Errors: BrightPay’s API facility will drastically reduce the chance of errors that could potentially be caused by manual data entry and time spent correcting those errors.
Step by step guide to BrightPay & FreeAgent integration
Find out more about the BrightPay & FreeAgent integration
May 2020
27
Customer Update: June 2020
Welcome to BrightPay's June update. Our most important news this month include:
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Unemployment set to skyrocket despite the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
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Furlough scheme extended until October
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Claim Guidance for Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Claim
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Self-employment income support scheme is rolled out
Free Webinar: Important COVID-19 Payroll Updates & Return to Work Safety Policies
The government has announced the first steps to ease the coronavirus restrictions with a roadmap in place for lockdown measures to be slowly lifted. Understand how to adapt your payroll processes to accommodate for the schemes and subsequent updates.
Claim Guidance for Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Claim
Employers will need to make a claim for any COVID-19 related SSP they wish to reclaim through HMRC's Coronavirus SSP Rebate Scheme online service. This online service is now available to use and can be accessed here. A Claim Report is available in BrightPay to assist users in ascertaining the amounts needed for input into HMRC's Coronavirus SSP Rebate Scheme online service.
Furlough Scheme available until 31st of October
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has advised the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be available for employers for furloughed employees until the end of October 2020 and will introduce a new flexibility option under the scheme from August. This will apply to all regions and sectors in the UK economy.
Return to Work Safety Policies
With the emergence from lockdown becoming clearer, businesses will need to start to put plans and COVID-19 policies in place for their employees to go back to the workplace safely. It is advisable for all workplaces to adapt their workplace HR policies, procedures and practices to comply with the COVID-19 related safety guidelines.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - Claim Report in BrightPay
BrightPay includes a new CJRS Claim Report. This report can be used to ascertain the amounts needed for input into HMRC's online service, including the gross furlough amount, employer National Insurance contributions, employer minimum pension contributions and total claim amount. For employers with over 100 employees, you also have the option to export the report to a CSV file, ready for import into HMRC's portal.
May 2020
25
How to Choose the Right Payroll Software for Your Accountancy Practice
It can be challenging to settle on the right payroll software for your business when there is so much to choose from. Here are some key points we feel must be considered when looking for excellent payroll software:
- Batch processing - For an accountancy firm, batch processing is a must. The time-saving involved in running payroll procedures in a batch cannot be understated.
- Pricing - Pricing is a crucial factor to consider. The price doesn't have to be "cheap", but it should certainly be reflective of the value of the product. If it's also affordable on top of that, bonus.
- Delegating work - What if your payroll software allowed your employees to log in directly to it and request things like annual leave, or to access their payroll data? And what if employees could access a "self-service" section of the payroll software where they could download their payslips? The more your payroll software can delegate work, the more time you'll have on your hands. And time is money.
- Auto-enrollment - Under the new pension laws, finding a pension scheme that matches all the required criteria can be challenging. Great payroll software should facilitate this procedure, integrating with NEST to provide easy auto-enrolment into qualifying pension schemes.
- Connects to accounting software - Your payroll software should connect to your cloud accounting software such as QuickBooks, FreeAgent, Xero and others. This way, the payroll journal is reflected in your accounts.
- Excellent support - Excellent support could be said to be the make or break of high-grade payroll software. Too many software companies have come onto the scene blazing, only to fail because their support was not good enough. Support should be handled by knowledgeable people who understand the product and can also communicate clearly with potentially frustrated clients.
- Secure - Security of payroll data is crucial to stay in compliance with data privacy laws. Saving payroll data on the cloud might be "convenient", but it also means that anybody with access to your password can access all your staff's personal data. The choice between cloud-based software and desktop software is always won hands-down by desktop software.
- Recognition - The HMRC should recognise the payroll software. Failing to use HMRC-recognised software might lead to you having to run the payroll entirely manually! There are strict rules for running payroll, and plenty to remember. If the HMRC has not recognised a payroll software, be wary.
- Awards - Awards are not vital when choosing payroll software, but they certainly make the choice sweeter! Awards from external bodies show that the software company has achieved standards higher than its peers, and that these standards have been independently verified. The more prestigious the award, and the more often it has been won, the better chances you have that the software will deliver more than what you need. Awards also prove that the team behind the software knows what it's doing.
- Always getting better - The best payroll software should get better every year. This not only adds value to your business but also inspires confidence in the company behind it. It shows that the product is continuously being worked on, that it is not stagnant. If the product is continually improving, your ROI as far as that software goes will also improve.
Written by Guest Blogger: Pearl Chartered Accountants
Apr 2020
30
BrightPay release CJRS claim report
A CJRS Claim Report was released on the 23rd April in BrightPay to assist users in ascertaining the amounts needed for input into HMRC's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme online service.
BrightPay’s CJRS Claim Report includes claim amounts for each employee detailing furlough start date, furlough end date (if known), gross pay claim, employer NIC claim, employer pension claim and the total claim amount.
Employers will need to make a claim for wage costs through an online portal on GOV.UK, which was launched on 20th April. The only way to make a claim is online. HMRC has worked to make the portal simple to use and any support you need is available on GOV.UK. Businesses will need their Government Gateway user ID and password to login to the online portal.
Video Tutorial: See how BrightPay's CJRS Claim Report works
How to make a claim
You’ll need to provide the following to make a claim:
- The bank account number and sort code you’d like HMRC to use when they pay the claim.
- The name and phone number of the person in your business for HMRC to call with any questions.
- Your Self-Assessment UTR (Unique Tax Reference), Company UTR or CRN (Company Registration Number), where applicable.
- The name, employee number and National Insurance number for each of your furloughed employees.
- The total amount being claimed for all employees and the total furlough period.
If you have fewer than 100 furloughed staff, you will need to input your information directly into the system for each employee.
If you are an employer with more than 100 employees, you will need to upload a file with additional information for each employee, including the claim amount per furloughed employee and the furlough start and end date (if known) for each furloughed employee. If you have more than 100 employees, BrightPay gives users the option to create a CSV file, ready to be uploaded into HMRC's online service containing the details of your claim.
Free COVID-19 & Payroll Webinar
What You Need To Know about HMRC’s Claim Portal, COVID-19 Related SSP & Furlough Leave
All businesses, regardless of size, will be affected by the government measures for the foreseeable future. As the COVID-19 virus spreads across the UK, the government has introduced measures for employers to continue to pay their employees and to support businesses.
This webinar covers:
- Claiming for wages through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- How BrightPay’s CJRS Claim Report works
- Catering for COVID-19 Related Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
- How furlough leave applies to your employees
Mar 2020
18
Customer Update: March 2020
Welcome to BrightPay's March update. Our most important news this month include:
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Covid-19 - Are you Ready?
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The Challenge of the Coronavirus & Remote Working with BrightPay
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Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) & Covid 19
BrightPay 2020/21 is now available to pre-order
BrightPay 2020/21 is scheduled for release the week ending 27th March. We will send you another email once it is released and ready to download. This further email will also be accompanied by a full list of the new 2020/21 features and legislative updates.
The Challenge of the Coronavirus & How BrightPay can Facilitate Remote Working
Businesses are understandably concerned about the steps they should be taking to manage the risk of COVID-19. We would like to provide reassurance to our customers that BrightPay is well prepared. Many businesses are now putting precautionary measures in place to combat the spread of the virus and to protect their employees. BrightPay can facilitate the option to work from home, which is one of the primary ways businesses are changing the way they operate.
How BrightPay Connect pricing is calculated
BrightPay Connect customers will be billed on a usage subscription model based on the number of employees in the billing month. This monthly subscription pricing model means that you only pay for what you use. For the vast majority of customers, this new billing model will result in a reduced annual cost.
BrightPay Connect is priced based on the number of active employees in a particular month. This means that you won't be charged for employees who left before the start of the month, or who are on the payroll but not due to start until after the month-end. The cost per month is scalable, depending on the number of active employees. The cost per employee reduces as you add more employees.
How to Handle SSP & Covid 19
HMRC have advised that if you need to take time off work to self-isolate due to Covid 19, the first 3 waiting days that normally apply for SSP will be disregarded and you will be entitled to receive SSP from the first day.
As this is a unique case and BrightPay is programmed to take into account the usual 3 waiting days, an override should be performed in BrightPay by simply marking the previous 3 days on the employee's calendar as sick leave. The SSP to be applied will then be from their first actual day of self-isolation/sick leave. The government will work with stakeholders over the coming months to set up a repayment mechanism as soon as possible.
Dec 2019
5
Customer Update: December 2019
Welcome to BrightPay's December update where you will find out about the latest hot topics and events affecting payroll. Our most important news this month include:
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How to choose the right Cloud HR platform for your business
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Batch processing in BrightPay - so hot right now
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Flexible working in the world of accountancy
The interactive digital payslip has arrived - Free for BrightPay Customers
You can now do so much more than simply manage the payslip process. BrightPay Connect offers an online self-service platform and an employee app. Employees have 24/7 easy access to view the payslips anytime, anywhere, using your smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. Historic payslips and P60s are available to access and download. BrightPay Connect offers employees:
- Ability to request annual leave on the go
- Current and historic payslip library
- Access to uploaded HR documents, such as contracts of employment and company handbooks
- View leave taken and leave remaining
- Holiday leave yearly calendar
- Access to edit and update personal contact details
Client Payroll Approval. This is what you must be offering as a service (and why clients will LOVE it)
BrightPay Connect’s Payroll Approval Request allows bureau users to securely send their clients a payroll summary before the payroll is finalised. Clients can then review and authorise the payroll details for the pay period through their online employer dashboard. Ultimately, your client will be accountable for ensuring the payroll information is 100% correct before the payroll is finalised. Additionally, there is an audit trail of the requests being approved by the client.
New AccountingWEB Live Conference for Accountants - Will you attend?
The popular AccountingWEB online platform has announced a new conference for accountants. AccountingWEB Live is a unique blend of technology showcase, educational workshop and inspiring content. As well as a full content programme, AccountingWEB Live will feature showcases from the UK’s leading technology brands, demonstrating the latest products, updates and solutions. We are delighted that BrightPay will exhibit at AccountingWEB Live next year to showcase our latest features.
New BrightPay Connect Subscription Pricing Model
From April 2020, customers will be billed on a usage subscription model based on the number of active employees in the billing month. Once signed up for a BrightPay Connect account, you will be invoiced monthly in arrears through our new online billing system. There are no contracts or ties. Should you decide to stop using Connect, no notice is required. Payroll Bureaus on a bureau package will be charged based on the total number of active employees in respect of clients that are synchronised to BrightPay Connect (not on a client-by-client basis).
Why employee apps are the future of payroll
The advancement of employee mobile apps offers many different advantages for employers, employees, and the business as a whole. Payroll apps will streamline payroll processing while reducing the number of payroll queries from employees. The BrightPay Connect self-service app provides a digital payslip platform where employees benefit from secure access anytime, anywhere, using their smartphone or tablet. Through these app features, you can provide your employees with access to GDPR compliant self-service tools, a payslip library and a user-friendly holiday leave management facility.
Nov 2019
27
How cloud payroll portals jack up your cybersecurity
Until the recent past, small businesses were unlikely targets for sophisticated cyber-attacks. But in the internet era, things have changed dramatically.
SMEs are doing more business online than ever and they are using cloud services that don’t use strong encryption technology. It’s turned your average SME into a likely, lucrative target. There’s a lot of sensitive data to be had, and if it’s behind a door with an easy lock to pick then all the better.
This new reality is on display in official statistics. Over four in ten businesses (43%) and two in ten charities (19%) experienced a cybersecurity breach or attack in 2018, according to the government’s cybersecurity breaches survey.
Three-quarters of businesses (74%) and over half of all charities (53%) surveyed also identified cybersecurity as a high priority for their organisation’s senior management. It’s likely GDPR and its stiffened sanctions for breaches and blunders has a lot to do with this heightened priority.
Payroll processing is a key innovation battleground in this new era of hacks and data regulation. Clients want the convenience of online access to their payroll information, but they also demand (and require) the very best in security.
For a bureau, offering best-in-class cybersecurity is a valuable way to add and demonstrate value, with very little actual effort on your part. A bureau using the most secure cloud payroll facility will offer data security as standard.
Meanwhile, the security itself is actually handled by the software supplier and the infrastructure they provide. All you need to do is make the right choice when it comes to picking a software partner.
When using BrightPay Connect in conjunction with your BrightPay desktop application, for instance, all communication between both systems is carried out on a safe channel with maximum security.
BrightPay utilises all manner of best practice to guard against nefarious tactics such as data injection, authentication hacking, cross-site scripting, exposure flaws, request forgery, and the many other types of vulnerabilities.
BrightPay Connect utilises the Microsoft Azure platform to give users reliability, scalability, data redundancy, geo-replication and timely security updates out of the box.
As a payroll bureau, cybersecurity is a critical commercial area. You must be able to promise security to both current and prospective clients. By investing in payroll software that offers cloud integration powered by the latest tech, that’s an easy promise to keep. Being at the bleeding edge of cybersecurity has never been simpler.
Book a demo today to discover more ways that BrightPay Connect can protect your business.
Nov 2019
14
Customer Update: November 2019
Welcome to BrightPay's November update where you will find out about the latest hot topics and events affecting payroll. Our most important news this month include:
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IR35 clampdown - Three BBC presenters are made pay back a total of £92,000
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Expand your payroll services with online client platforms
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3 GDPR myths you need to ignore
Online payslips offering enhanced GDPR security
Manually approving requests, keeping track of the employees’ annual leave and inputting new data into the payroll software takes a lot of time and can be a frustrating administrative burden for both payroll and HR staff. To make the process easier for all parties involved, the BrightPay Connect app provides a self-service platform that employees can access anytime, anywhere, using the smartphone app or online portal.
CPD Accredited Webinar: Expand your payroll services with online client platforms
Standing out in a crowd of other payroll bureau providers is no easy task, and it’s getting more difficult all the time. Difficult, but not impossible. As a payroll bureau, you need to find unique ways to differentiate your practice from all the others.
Cloud innovation and online client portals are making it easier than ever before for bureaus to offer value-added service. Savvy bureaus are implementing client online dashboards customised with their own bureau branding to effectively differentiate themselves, in order to stand out from their competitors.
Accountants rewarded who take a leap of faith into the cloud
All of us, in the hyper-connected internet era, have found ourselves at a loss when using some software, website or app. You just want to do one thing, or you want to set something up and... you just can’t. It might feel like specific software or apps are testing us in some way. Only those who can navigate through the narrow tunnels of this software are genuinely worthy, in some weird twist on the Arthurian legend of Excalibur.
Clients can now input their employee hours into BrightPay
BrightPay Connect allows bureau users to securely send payroll entry requests and payroll approval requests to their clients, changing the way payroll bureaus interact and communicate with clients. Clients can securely add their employee’s hours saving bureaus hours of administrative time each pay period. Ultimately, your client will be accountable for ensuring the payroll information is 100% correct before the payroll is finalised. Additionally, there is an audit trail of the requests being approved by the client.
Do you want more empowered employees?
Despite the political and social chaos of the moment, we do live in more enlightened times, and employees have more rights now than ever before. Part of that evolution involves empowerment, an integral aspect of BrightPay Connect’s appeal. Payroll bureaus can now offer their clients’ employees easier online access to manage their own payroll information, annual leave, personal contact data and payslips on the go.
Employees can browse and download their history of payslips and other payroll documents, view their payroll calendar, including annual leave, sick leave, and parenting leave, make changes and direct annual leave requests, fully informed.
Oct 2019
17
Customer Update: October 2019
Welcome to BrightPay's October update where you will find out about the latest hot topics and events affecting payroll. Our most important news this month include:
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Are employees receiving the National Minimum Wage?
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BrightPay Connect’s smartphone app
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Online payslips offering enhanced GDPR security
Free webinar: Payroll transformed - How cloud platforms supercharge the payroll process for employers
The relationship between employees and the employer is no longer one-directional. What software has created is a new collaborative framework in which employers can easily engage with their employees while managing payroll and HR processes. Payroll software with cloud integration envelops the day-to-day tasks like annual leave management, payslip distribution and backing up your payroll. Register for this FREE webinar where we’ll zoom in on six exciting ways that employer cloud platforms have transformed the payroll process.
Changes to Student Loans from 6th April 2020
New rates for the tax year 2020/21 for Student Loan Plans 1 and 2 have been announced by the Department of Education. The new rates will apply to all current and future borrowers for whom employers make Student Loan deductions. In BrightPay 2020/21, the new student loan repayment thresholds for both plans will automatically be calculated and the appropriate student loan deduction applied.
New Feature Announcement: Batch Operations for Payroll Bureaus
BrightPay users have the ability to batch process multiple employers at the same time. This feature is very useful for bureau users, especially for those with a lot of single-director companies or payrolls that don’t change from week to week. The Batch Operation function enables users to process or perform a task on multiple employer files with a single click. Batch processing is available to finalise payslips, to check for coding notices and to send outstanding RTI & CIS submissions for multiple employers at the same time.
Have you heard of our smartphone app which is free for employees?
BrightPay’s employee self-service smartphone and tablet app is available with our cloud add-on BrightPay Connect. The user-friendly app streamlines the payroll processing while reducing the number of payroll queries from employees. The benefits for employees include:
- Instant access to current & historic payslips.
- Request leave on the go.
- View holiday leave remaining and leave taken.
- View HR documents such as employee contracts & handbooks.
- Edit personal contact information including address and phone number details.
Free webinar for payroll bureaus: Cloud platforms - the next generation payroll trend that every bureau should adopt
Online client platforms are transforming payroll services to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of payroll work. BrightPay is running a series of free webinars where we look at cloud innovation and how it’s positively impacting the way bureaus and accountants offer payroll services. Join us for our upcoming webinar as we take a look at what’s new with cloud technology and how it may affect your payroll processing.
